Friends of Ours

Another Mafia Hit In Greater Toronto Area

Law enforcement suspect that the Mafia is behind the hit on Al Iavarone who was gunned down on Thursday night in a residential neighborhood of Ancaster, ON Canada as reported by CBC News: "Det. Sgt. Peter Thom said Iavarone has no criminal record, but was known to police as he is associated with people who are involved in organized crime," and Thom further said "it's our belief there is something going in the underworld, maybe a power struggle." In recent years the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia has been engaged in a pissing match with the Rizutto clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia for control over the drug trade in Canada and New York.

Anti-Mafia Activist Rita Borsellino Dies At 73

Rita Borsellino began her fight against Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia after they assassinated her brother Paolo Borsellino, a mob-busting magistrate, in 1992, and she eventually became a member of the European Parliament and in 2012 appointed to its Special Committee on Organized Crime as reported by The New York Times:

"The Mafia is no longer an Italian problem," she said. "It has definitely become a European issue. I would say even a worldwide or international issue. In the last few years, they have changed their trafficking and their routes, their contacts, their financial and commercial links. To symbolize the extent of the change, we no longer speak of 'the Mafia' today, but of 'mafias.'"

R.I.P., Ms. Borsellino.

Surviving Family Of 13-Year-Old Boy Murdered By Sicilian Mafia Receives $2 Million

Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of mobster-turned-informant Santino Di Matteo, was just eleven years old when he was abducted in 1993 and then tortured for two years until finally strangled and dissolved in acid by Cosa Nostra in an effort to force the boy's father to recant his testimony, and now the surviving family has been awarded 2 million euros or $2.4 million from a government fund for Mafia victims as reported by the Daily Mail: "the order to kidnap Giuseppe came from the notorious mafia boss Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, who died in an Italian prison last year aged 87" while "serving 26 life sentences for at least 150 murders."

Further reading that may be of interest:

Nicky Deuce Is Nickelodeon's Shame

Italian Authorities Seize Assets From Mafia Boss

Italian authorities have seized assets worth 21 million euros or $25 million including 65 properties from Pietro Formoso who allegedly heads the Misilmeri clan of Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia as reported by The Telegraph: "Formoso made his money from international drug smuggling and forcing Sicilian supermarkets to use meat supplied by the underworld," and "police sources said Formoso had been brought down with the help of several Mafia 'supergrasses.'"

Italian Court Convicts Mafia Bosses And Government Officials Over Secret Deal

An Italian court has convicted eight defendants for their roles in a secret deal between the Sicilian Mafia and government officials to end the mob's stragismo -- strategy of terror -- against the state in the early 1990s which included the 1992 murders of anti-Mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone in separate bomb attacks as reported by The Guardian.

Italian Police Target Pizzini Network For Fugitive Mafia Boss Matteo Messina Denaro

Italian police have arrested 22 suspected members of Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia for their alleged roles in facilitating communications through paper notes or "pizzini" for fugitive boss of bosses Matteo Messina Denaro as reported by The Washington Post. Messina Denaro has been on the lam since 1993, and wanted for, among other things, his role in the 1996 murder Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 13-year-old son of mobster-turned-informant Santino Di Matteo. The boy had been held by his abductors for two years, and then strangled and dissolved in acid.

Same Hitman Behind Two Mafia-linked Killings In Greater Toronto

Law enforcement from Toronto, ON Canada has announced that "two Mafia-linked shootings last year . . . were carried out by the same hit man" as reported by The Globe and Mail: "after studying hundreds of hours of seized surveillance footage, investigators believe the gunman was the same man in both cases and was, at some point, seen driving the same black Honda Civic."

Last March Mila Barbieri was gunned down while sitting in a car but police believe she was not the intended target, and note "her boyfriend, Saverio Serrano -- the son of a notorious Canadian Mafia figure and cocaine importer -- was also in the car with her that day" who "survived the shooting."

Last May Angelo Musitano "was also gunned down in the driveway of his suburban home," and "in the 1990s, Mr. Musitano and his brother Pat were charged with first-degree murder for the deaths of Hamilton Mob boss Johnny (Pops) Papalia and his associate Carmen Barillaro."

The Musitano and Serrano clans allegedly have historic ties to the 'Ndrangheta or Calabrian Mafia which in recent years has been engaged in a pissing match with the Rizutto clan from Cosa Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia for control over the drug trade in Canada and New York.

Cosa Nostra Allegedly Rigged Horse Races At Palermo Track

Horse racing "has been suspended at the Palermo racetrack after Italian police investigating mafia activity discovered illegal gambling and evidence that Cosa Nostra bosses were rigging races" as reported by The Guardian: "the order, from the head of the Palermo prefecture, Antonella De Miro, followed the arrests earlier in December of 25 people linked to the clans of Resuttana-San Lorenzo that revealed the extent of mafia involvement in horse racing."

Italian Authorities Tighten Noose Around Fugitive Child-killing Mafia Boss Matteo Messina Denaro

In the Trapani area of western Sicily law enforcment "is circling in on Italy's most wanted Mafioso fugitive, executing dozens of search warrants on known associates of Matteo Messina Denaro" as reported by Fox News. Messina Denaro has been on the lam since 1993, and wanted for, among other things, his role in the 1996 murder Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 13-year-old son of mobster-turned-informant Santino Di Matteo. The boy had been held by his abductors for two years, and then strangled and dissolved in acid. There's nothing more degenerate than a mobster.